Hi-def straight from the Web to your TV

Yet another reason to cancel that cable or satellite TV subscription: the Myka ION.

Claimed
as the "first consumer Web-to-TV product that can easily run Boxee,
Hulu and other leading Internet video services" - as well as jokingly
being called a "magic box" — the Ion allows you to play web-streamed high-definition videos without mucking about with a computer hookup. It might be likened to a cable box, but for streaming video.

The
device actually is a mini-computer, with the Intel Atom Processor 330
and NVIDIA ION Graphics Processor. and allows you to access
web-streamed videos without booting up your computer. It ships with a
full install of Ubuntu 9.10 and has a Windows 7 dual boot option as
well, allowing users to run NetFlix, CinemaNow and other services.

"Technology
has finally caught up with what consumers want out of Internet video
services," Myka President Dan Lovy said in a press release. "They want
to be freed from their computers and watch the growing variety of Web
video content on their large-screen, high-definition living room TVs."

It'll ship in four weeks and cost $379. Its expansion options include Blu-Ray and a larger hard disk.